Mysterious Moves of Love
by Emitique
Summary: Why should they keep getting confused about who they really love? Why are their hearts aching more often that it should. These four only wanted to be able to love... Multipairings, whole summary inside. R
1. Introductions

**Disclaimer: **I do not, in any form own Gakuen Alice… Please do not sue me for writing a story about it.

**Author's Note: **This is my first shot at trying to make a story for this fandom. Hope it all turns out okay. If the Prologue is boring you, you can skip it and go straight to chapter I… the prologue won't affect this story much anyway. But you may want to read it to get a head start on what the flow of the story would be.

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-** Mysterious Moves of Love** - 

**By: Emitique **

**Prologue- "Introductions"

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**

The Alice Academy…

A school for people who posses unique abilities, a normal person wouldn't have. Those abilities are called " Alice" which was how the school got its name. The school is a special school that enables the teachings for the enhancement of the students' alices. It was a one of a kind school, and its occupants are all rather… amusingly distinct from the people of outside its gates. If you are to enter the massive gates of the Alice Academy compound, you will be amazed to see the students there doing unusual thing like defying gravity, making inanimate objects dance around, talk to people without using words, make people see what's not really there, make unbelievable inventions, make multiple copies of theirselves, just to name a few…

Won't it be interesting to find love blossom among these amazing student? How much will they sacrifice for what they feel about each other? How far would they go for the things they believe in? And what would they do incase of a double love triangle? Gasp! We'll just have to find out don't we?

///ooo\\ooo///ooo\\

Sakura, Mikan…

A girl who always keeps her long brown locks of her into two-tails. We all know her to have a positive happy-go-luck attitude. Because of her personality, many people find it so hard to loathe her, no matter how dumb she can get at times. And Imai, Hotaru is a living proof of that theory. She always wants the best for everyone and always voices out what she feels inside. She wants the environment she's in to be peaceful and cheery. She wants the people around her to be able to smile happily. She will do whatever it takes to be able to do the right thing. But what if she doesn't know what the right thing is anymore?

How will this cheerful girl deal with a new emotion she is about to feel with certain people around her? Better yet, how will she handle the emotions that are going to be directed to her from certain people around her? Would she be able to stand facing the changes occurring on her perfect little world?

///ooo\\ooo///ooo\\

Hyuuga, Natsume…

He's one of the top students the school has. The only student in class B to have the rank of a top star. He has silky black hair and captivating brown eyes. But behind all of that, people see him either as a "cool" guy or a "mean" person. The truth about him is though, that his heart is one of the warmest you'll ever find. He is sensitive to the feeling of those around him but prefers not to interfere unless it was really necessary. He is a quiet boy, and not the timid-quiet kind. If he was ever to talk, it would never happen with him having a smile on his face. Except maybe when Nogi, Ruka was the person he was talking to, he would probably spare a smile for him, his only dear friend. But how long would that spared smile last as the turn of events play out?

What will this boy, who is often drowned by pride and keeping others away from him do when he starts to feel something inside him stir? How can he cope with his new developed feelings? And can he handle competing with the only one that stood by him from the very beginning?

///ooo\\ooo///ooo\\

Imai, Hotaru…

A girl that have always preferred to be left alone with her work. She keeps her hair short with a boyish haircut, and her indigo colored eyes always seem to hold an indifferent look. She hasn't placed any real efforts into making friends, and she also doesn't push people away. Unless Sakura, Mikan tries to glomp her to death, that would be an exception. Although the truth is that as much as she pushes the other girl physically, she doesn't want Mikan to be away from her as much as the brown haired girl wants to stay with her. People sometimes think that Hotaru doesn't care about things around her and notices nothing but herself and her inventions. The truth of the matter is that, she cares a lot about the things going on around her; she even left her only friend and home town just so her previous school's future wouldn't be that of being demolished. And she is very much cornered about the people around her, she wants the people important to her to be happy, and she will even give up her own happiness for those important people.

Will she ever get tired of putting others before her? When will she decide that she have to stand up for herself for once? Could she follow her heart when it's saying that she would end up hurting those important people around her?

///ooo\\ooo///ooo\\

Nogi, Ruka…

He has a naturally friendly personality that shows even if he tries to hide it. He has blond hair and beautiful sweet azure eyes. At first he only had one thing he wanted to do, which was to be able to stay and support the best friend he had. He hated seeing Natsume suffer, but the other won't allow him to suffer with him. He decided the next best thing he could do for a friend was to stay with him and always be supportive. And his concern was not for Hyuuga, Natsume alone. He cared for everyone because that's just how he is. He hates it whenever the weak get pushed around. He makes it his habit to unconsciously help everyone. Will he still help others even if it will make his heart ache?

What will he do once he figures out the feelings he have for certain people? Will he continue on being his supportive self or will he follow his heart and make a move for his own sake? Would he just let misery wash him over or will he finally stand up and fight?

///ooo\\ooo///ooo\\

Four uncertain hearts…

What would the future hold for them? How will the story of their lives flow out? To live and tangle their emotions so much, which would end up on hurting them. To know nothing would ever be the same if they chose the path of love to walk on to. Will they be willing to risk loosing their current relationships to be able to satisfy the hunger of their hearts? Should they be willing to take a step further?

Will they finally have what they all want? Or will everything get very tangled in the middle and they all would end up having their poor, young, confused, loving hearts broken? Life would move on, hopefully it will move on long enough for them to be able to assess the feelings they have inside for one another…

///ooo\\ooo///ooo\\

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**Author's Note:** Yeah, I know… The prologue has a lot of questions. I wrote this to kind of build up anticipation. I sure hoped it worked. I kind of wanted this to be a summary for the whole story, you know? To give a heads up on what will come next. Hope you enjoyed reading! Drop a review if you can okay:D

...Emi-chan...

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	2. Hold my Hand

**Disclaimer: **Gakuen Alice is not my property. This is just a non-profitable story I made to ease my own greed. Please don't sue…

**Author's Notes:** Here we go! It's chapter I… Like the Prologue said, the lives of those four would be all tangled around so please don't expect normal pairings. Please read on and may you enjoy it. ;D

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**- Mysterious Moves of Love -**

**By: Emitique**

**Chapter I- "Hold my Hand…"

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"Hurry up, Hotaru!" Mikan said excitedly to her friend with her usual enthusiastic voice.

It was their first day as middle school students. Both Mikan and Hotaru pretty much still looked the same, except for that they have grown taller and their bodies matured as their curves started to get more noticeable. They were now wearing the blue version of the school uniform in place of their old red ones. Hotaru's hair was still the same, short and black, just as Mikan's was still long, and was still held up by childish pigtails on either side of her head.

The two of them were on their way to the greenhouse, where their next class of Biology will take place with Misaki-sensei. Hotaru didn't know why, but for some reason her friend seemed to be excited about going to that particular class… Oh, wait a minute… Mikan's always excited, and this day being their first as Middle school students didn't help one bit at easing the excitement of the brown haired girl. Being the bestfriend of the baka girl that she is, Hotaru followed the skipping girl towards the greenhouse without a word or an expression on her face.

Their friendship stayed the same, if not grown stronger over the passing of time inside the academy. And their relationships with other people inside the academy have grown as well. All of them have grown a bond with one another. All of them were all a lot like a family now. But of course the two bestfriends' bond was the thing that grew the most.

\\O///o\\O///o\\O///o\\O///o\\O///o\\O///o\\O///

Speaking of bestfriends, another pair of such was walking along the hall going to the direction of the green house. The blond boy was ahead of the black haired one. The one in the lead had a small smile on his beautiful face while the other behind him had the expression of wanting to do anything but walk to their next class.

"I wonder if Biology would be harder now that were in middle school?" Ruka asked both to himself and his friend.

"Hnn…" was the reply he got from Natsume.

If Ruka didn't know Natsume very well, he would have interpreted that answer as a rude one and would also end up disliking Natsume. But Ruka knows better than that. He knows that that's the way Natsume normally acts and he has accepted it long ago. He knows his friend very well, after all they've been through together, it's no wonder…

Ruka turned his head and looked at the boy behind him with a warm smile.

"But I shouldn't worry… after all you'll be there to assist if I ever get left behind during lessons right?" he said almost too sweetly.

"Hnn." This time it was said with a smile on the flame caster's lips.

Natsume is a kind person, but sometimes only one other person can see that. And he is very much thankful for having a friend like Ruka. He wouldn't know if he would still be sane or alive if Ruka was never by his side since long ago.

\\O///o\\O///o\\O///o\\O///o\\O///o\\O///o\\O///

Mikan still had that smile of fascination plastered on her face and was skipping away on the hall when she suddenly heard the voice of her friend behind her calmly say:

"Wait, stop Mikan."

The girl turned her head back but her feet still continued on forward. She managed to state a "Huh?" before she felt herself collide hard with something and makes her lose her balance and fall on the floor.

"Ouch…" Mikan said weakly.

She had her eyes closed because of the impact. When she opened one of them, she could see a helping hand being offered to her.

"Are you alright?" the owner of the hand asked softly.

Mikan directed her eyes up and saw that the owner of the hand was none other than Ruka-pyon… Maybe it was just an effect from the impact, but when Mikan looked up into those blue eyes of the boy in front of her… Her breath was caught in her throat and her chest made a funny almost painful squeezing feeling. She felt like looking into those blue eyes and worried face and not let go of the moment.

\\O///o\\O///o\\O///o\\O///o\\O///o\\O///o\\O///

Ruka was still looking back at Natsume when it happened. He should've noticed that something was off when Natsume changed his expression to that of what seemed like he acknowledged something familiar. He should've turned to what his friend was looking at and stopped his tracks.

But it was all too late…

"_BLAG!"_

He bumped to another person, or rather, another person bumped into him. The impact threw him a few steps back but the one he bumped with got thrown down to the floor. He quickly recognized the girl as Mikan. He automatically held out his hand for her and asked the girl if she's alright.

A few seconds passed and all the girl did was to stare at him. Ruka started to even more worried.

'_I hope Mikan didn't get anything damaged. I don't know what I'll do if I caused her injury!'_ he thought as he was beginning to panic inside.

"A-are you alright Mikan? Did you get hurt? Can you stand up?" he asked a bit rapidly. The hand that he was offering now moved to take the girl's hand in it as he kneels down to the girl sitting on the floor.

Mikan felt the warm hand touch her own, and just like that, the feeling she had a moment earlier ago… seemed to vanish. She suddenly felt safe and comfortable. Amazing how that simple touch of his hand could do so much. She finally managed to give one of her cheerful smiles to the worried face in front of her.

"Hey, Ruka-pyon! That was some collision huh?" she said with a smile and a soft giggle...

She gripped his hand tighter and he helped her up to her feet. That was how far the touch of their hands with each other lasted. As soon as Mikan was upright again, her hand was released and she used both of her hands to dust off and straight out her uniform.

As Mikan was straightening the little creases her new uniform obtained from her fall, her friend walked up behind her and…

…gave her a smack on the back of her head with one of her inventions that magically appeared out of nowhere. It left Mikan's head with a big, sore bump which the girl was dramatically trying to feel as if it would lessen with her touch. With animated tear flowing from her eyes, she turned to her friend and shouted demandingly…

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?!"

Mikan had her back turned to the two boys behind her. Ruka and Natsume were also shocked about what Hotaru suddenly did. Even after spending a long tie with the other pair of friends to know that this was probably normal for the two, they still couldn't help the strange feeling of being puzzled they got as they saw Hotaru hit her friend HARD from behind. They each had a sweat drop of confusion which was dangling from their pretty little heads.

'_I sure am glad we don't have that kind of routine in our friendship…'_ the two young men thought to themselves.

Hotaru's expression of indifference never left her face, even as Mikan's face with the combined expressions of hurt, anger and annoyance, is only inches away from her face which is unscathed by emotion. She opened her small mouth to finally answer the loud question Mikan addressed to her.

"That was for being an idiot and not stopping when I told you to." She said calmly.

Between the lines, Hotaru's words could be interpreted as "I was worried and wanted to make sure if you were still alright so I hit you…" Mikan seemed to have understood the message, for her tears stopped and her angry look disappeared from her face, which was replaced by a more comprehending one.

"You didn't have to hit me _that _hard…" Mikan said weakly to Hotaru, before turning to the two boys behind her. She gave both of them a warm smile and said.

"Ruka-pyon, Natsume, you're both on your way to the greenhouse right?"

The two boys let their heads nod in a form of answer to the asking girl.

"Why don't the four of us all go together? Hotaru and I are on our way there too. It should be fun walking with everyone." She announced happily.

Ruka and Natsume was not in anyway surprised that the pigtailed girl invited them to go along with her and her friend. They've known her well enough to know that she is the kind of person that wants everyone to be together. She wants everyone to be happily together.

She is so naïve that she really believes that there is a way for all the people in the world to get along…

…What an idiot… But being an idiot is one of her good points.

Natsume beat Ruka into coming up with an answer to the cheery girl's invitation. And being the kind of person he is, you can't expect his answer to be a sweet one…

"Why should we want to walk with a girl whose mouth is as noisy as yours?" he said dryly.

Those words immediately ticked Mikan off. She started fuming and ranting instantly.

"Who are you calling a noisy girl?! How can you say such things?! I'll have you know, that I'm known to be a pretty quiet person by some people! Is that any way to answer a perfectly proper question?…" And her rants went on and on.

Mikan was shouting at Natsume, while the boy just listened (or maybe not) and remained standing there silently. He seemed to be even enjoying the way Mikan got all pissed at him. The other two just watched as Mikan talked her head off and Natsume retain his cool attitude. They didn't bother trying to stop the argument that was going on. It was a far too regular routine to be worried about.

Despite Natsume's words, he was the one who took off first and went to the direction of the greenhouse, and Ruka momentarily followed him leaving one last glance to the still oblivious, ranting Mikan. Hotaru watched the pair leave, and then she looked at her friend who was still rambling on pointlessly.

After a moment Hotaru decided that she couldn't stop Mikan's mouth from talking by just looking at the brown-haired girl. She lightly tapped Mikna twice, which caused Mikan to jerk and finally be aware of their current situation. She gave a look to her friend that asked why she was suddenly interrupted; Hotaru gestured to a direction while still looking at Mikan. She turned her head and saw that the boy she should be talking to was a good few meters away from her now.

"Argh! That coward!" she said to the retreating form of the boy she was engaged in an argument with. With a glint of determination in her eyes, she turned at Hotaru and said firmly

"Com on Hotaru, we can't let them beat us." She said it with a determined look in her eyes but with a playful tone lacing her voice.

Mikan suddenly took Hotaru's hand in her and she proceeded on running very fast toward the direction of the greenhouse which Natsume and Ruka tracked a moment ago. When the pair passed the boys Mikan stuck her tongue out at Natsume and chanted "Last one there is a rotten egg!!!" After that she overtook them with Hotaru still in tow.

The childish display of competitiveness from Mikan got to Natsume and he too took off running after the two girls. Ruka was a bit taken back. Natsume actually accepted Mikan's challenge. That was something he was seeing more and more recently. He heaved a heavy sigh and took off running as well.

Mikan is a fast runner. That's at least one compliment you can give the girl. She is a pretty decent athlete. Ever since she was a little child she was a fit person, sports might not be her forte, but she wasn't horrible at doing it either. Hotaru on the other hand is not the athletic type. She'd much rather sit on front of her work table and work on a new invention than to go out and join a marathon. Thus, having this difference between their stamina, Hotaru easily got tired while she and Mikan were running.

Perhaps it was all the fighting spirit in Mikan that prevented her from noticing that she was no longer holding her bestfriend's hand when she was reaching the halfway point to the greenhouse.

Hotaru managed to gently pry her hand out of Mikan's hold a moment ago, and she is now currently panting, crouched, and has her hands pressed on her knees, allowing herself a bit of recovery time. She was still having difficulty returning her breathing pace to normal when Natsume caught up with her. The panting girl didn't expect the dark haired boy to do anything but pass her by so she didn't bother looking at the boy… but then again, things don't always go as Hotaru Imai expects

"…You okay?" said Natsume's nonchalant voice.

Hotaru was surprised to hear Natsume asking about her well being. Nonetheless she straightened herself, now feeling recovered, and answered the young man's question.

"I am now… somehow." She said saying the last part with a little bewilderment in her voice.

She suddenly felt her hand being tug on again by someone, the second time that day. She looked questioningly at the boy in front of her who just grabbed her hand. Confusion ran fast through Hotaru's mind… It wasn't really a feeling of _confusion_ exactly, more of a bittersweet kind. She didn't know if she was feeling positive or negative.

The feel of her hand in his was pleasant, it felt so… right, yet wrong at the same time. She didn't know why she was feeling these things; it was all so very new to her. As she put her mind into thinking about this new found _bittersweet _feeling, her physical body seemed to stop working and she just stood there with Natsume holding her hand and the look of bewilderment on her pretty face.

"You obviously can't run on your own, so come on…" Natsume answered to the questioning look on the short haired girls face. He started to gently pull her as he took a step forward. When Hotaru remained unmoving he looked back at her and added.

"…Unless, you want to become a rotten egg?" he said with a playful smirk.

Hotaru didn't know why… Maybe the phrase Natsume said to her triggered it. Then again maybe it was something else. Whatever it was, she shortly found her legs moving in time with the other as they started running towards the greenhouse, hand-in-hand…

**End of Chapter

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**Author's Notes- **There you have it! The first chapter to my first story in this Fandom is finished! I'm thinking to try the following pairings: RukaxMikan, NatsumexHotaru… I'll have them switch partners somewhere in the middle and see how that works out. If they click (to my tastes), then I'll keep them that way, if not I'll switch them back, or try a love triangle...

**Thanks so much for reading!** Drop a review if you feel like it.

…Emi-chan…

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	3. Smile

**Author's Note: **An update? It's about time!

This chapter is jam packed full of onesided NatsumexHotaru. I know this pairing is really, and I mean REALLY unpopular. But please keep an open mind and give them a chance.

**Disclaimer:** Emitique does not own Gakuen Alice.

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**-Mysterious Moves of Love-**

**By: Emitique**

**Chapter II- "Smile: It Can Cause Pain Too"

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Hotaru Imai was having difficulties keeping her eyes away from a certain raven haired boy. This was very not like her. She estimated that she was missing about half of their Biology lecture just due to her musings of the top star student.

She sighed inwardly. When had she started to get like this? She haven't paid this much attention to Natsume before, heck, she haven't paid this much attention to any boy before. What's so different about him?

_Maybe it's because of the way he helped you out earlier…_

Said a nagging voice inside her mind.

What kind of reason is that? She knew from experience that Natsume was a naturally helpful person. Even though some people are oblivious to that, she have had spend enough time with him to know that little subtle fact, so it shouldn't be a surprise to her that Natsume helped her out earlier.

_Well yeah, but don't you think he seemed too sweet to be **just **helping you out earlier? He even teased you about being a rotten egg._

Sweet? Was that how she comprehend Natsume's act of kindness to her? Wasn't it just plain helpfulness? Why? What was so different?

_Umm, I don't know… Maybe because he smiled at you?_

Said the voice, still not giving up on the subject

S-so? A person smiling at her isn't new either. Mikan does that all the time. And most of the people she comes across with smiles at her, and none of them have ever made this kind of change in her…

_Hello? Are you thinking straight? Natsume is known far and wide as a non-frequently-smiling-person, of course it would be special when he gave you that charming smile of his, and along with his warm assistance I might add._

At this, Hotaru felt warmth rise up to her cheeks…

'Great… Now what's he done to me?' Hotaru thought worriedly to herself.

_Oh, no need to panic! You're just getting a blush that's all…_

Oh no, Hotaru Imai does **not** blush! This has got to be some kind of joke the gods are playing on her. What has she done wrong? She does her homework, brushes her teeth after every meal, goes to bed as soon as bedtime comes (except when she's working overnight on one of her inventions), sure she has a bit of greed over money, but as a whole she's a good person… at least that's what she thinks.

Unconsciously, she again turned her head towards the direction of the boy that made something stir up within her. It was a new habit beginning to develop and she doesn't have any idea how to stop it.

Nastume was staring out the window, a look of boredom placed on his face. He doesn't seem to be paying interest in the lesson Misaki-sensei was telling the whole class… Well, that makes two of them.

_Awww, just look at you, looking at him… You can't deny the certain sparkle in your eyes, it's shouting that you like him! Why don't you just admit it?_

The voice was starting to get so much irritating, that Hotaru couldn't help but answer it back to try and defend her side.

'One: I don't like him… I don't know what's happening to me but I don't think it's due to me admiring him because I don't. and two-'

Unfortunately, Hotaru's rant of defending herself from the evil voice within her mind was interrupted by a foreign object on the floor, lightly bumping to her foot. She looked down and saw that it was one of those talking pens they sell from central town.

Curiously, she picked it up. It seemed to be sleeping, that much can be determined by the silence it was producing in place of those usual annoying screeches, and the bubble from it's nose also helped determining it. Not long after she picked it up, its big eyes opened revealing their small irises. It yawned and looked at her lazily.

'How come this pen looks familiar?' she thought to herself as she looked at the living pen.

"Thanks for picking me up… I sorta fell asleep because that girl kept me up for the most of the night writing down a bunch of things. I guess I got dropped and rolled over here." The pen said as it gestured to the side from which it came from.

Hotaru turned her head to the side and saw the girl seated beside her was currently snoozing away on her desk.

Now she remembers why it so familiar, it belongs to her best friend, Mikan. She looked so sound asleep, automatically; her heart went her sleeping friend. Seeing her like this takes her back. When they were still little, they used to play all the time together and then, they would end up sleeping on Mikan's house due to exhaustion.

When she woke up, the first thing she'll see is the face of her sleeping friend next to her… and for some reason that makes her heart warm up.

'Baka… Maybe she was so excited about the 1st day of middle school that she was up all night thinking about it and writing letters to her grandfather that she didn't have enough sleep.' Hotaru said to herself

Before Hotaru could do anything to wake up her sleeping friend, a flying chalk beat her to it. The chalk hovered through the air and landed hard on Mikan's head.

Hotaru looked at the direction where the chalk came from, and found out that it was Misaki-sensei who threw the chalk at Mikan. It made Hotaru thankful that the said teacher didn't found her not listening to the lesson, he might've done the same to her.

Mikan was awoken by the force of the object that was thrown to her head. She jump up too quickly and shouted

"PUDDINGS AREN'T MEANT TO DANCE!"

The whole class fell silent. If you'll drop a pin to the floor, you'll actually hear it echo out. But the moment was cut short, by the sudden bust of laughter the whole class emitted.

Mikan looked around and noticed was just happened: She just made a total fool out of herself in front of everyone (well, nothing new there.)

"Sakura-san, I would appreciate it if you stick to sleeping in your own room. And please pay attention, and also, don't disturb class again." Misaki-sensei said to Mikan. He had an exasperated look on his face, unlike his students who were all still laughing at Mikan's earlier outburst.

Mikan nodded weakly, matched by her also weak response "Yes sir…" and still blushing from embarrassment, she sank down to her seat.

While Misaki was busy trying to quiet down the class and regaining the student's attention so they could continue the lesson. Hotaru took the opportunity to give Mikan back her fallen pen.

"Here" she said softly (as soft as she always talks) and offered the pen up to Mikan.

The other girl eyed it for a brief moment and realized it was hers. She lifted her hand to receive the item being handed to her.

"Thanks Hotaru." She said, but sadness still rung in her voice.

Hotaru didn't like it when Mikan's voice loss its cheerful bounce. She decided that maybe she should cheer her up, or at least try.

"You're right you know…"Hotaru said to Mikan.

The two tailed girl looked up to her with confusion written in her face. She was right about what?

"Huh?" Mikan voiced out.

Hotaru looked straightly at her, and allowed the slightest smile to grace her face as she looked at Mikan. She then turned to look to the front where Misaki sensei was half succeeding in calming the class down.

"Puddings AREN'T meant to dance." She finished.

Instead of laughing loudly like how their classmates did when they heard that line, Mikan didn't. Her eyes softened and she felt really happy. Hotaru was cheering her up, that was enough for her to leave her gloomy feeling behind.

"Yeah, thanks again Hotaru." Mikan said to her friend with a smile, and they both know it's not for Hotaru returning Mikan's pen.

Mikan thought that it would probably be best if she started to pay attention to the lesson so she too looked forward and tried to listen to Misaki-sensei.

Not even a brief moment has passed and Hotaru found her eyes wondering to the boy she had been looking at since the class began.

Natsume was no longer looking outside the window. It seemed that he was now looking towards her general direction. He had a smile playing on his lips. A bit different from the smile he gave her earlier, it seemed to hold much more warmth.

Then it hit her. Natsume was looking at Mikan, he was smiling at Mikan.

It felt so wrong, but her chest suddenly went tight and she wanted nothing more but to cry. Seeing him smile at Mikan like that, a smile much more warmer than the one he allowed her to have… It made her heart ache. She knew she had no right to feel like this, but she can't help it.

She hated herself in that moment.

Why was she feeling these things? Why was she so hurt because of that smile?

_You're feeling like this because you're keeping it all inside._

That voice again, it was really annoying.

'Shut up!' Hotaru mentally exclaimed at the voice.

_No, No I won't. Because if I did, you'll fall apart…_

Hotaru's eyes widened at the comment the voice made. The thing that shocked her the most though, was that the voice was right, and she was starting to feel it as she fought back the tears.

'Why? Why am I hurting like this?' she asked.

_You know why… But you can't admit it to yourself… You don't want to admit it, because you might end up hurting those you care for… And you'd much rather hurt yourself._

'How, how can you say that? Why do you know that much about me?'

_Because, dear Hotaru… I am you._

She looked down at her lap, eyes not really taking in the image she's seeing, the blue color of her well pleated skirt. The image that's still playing in her mind is that of Natsume and his smiles. She worked hard and succeeded at keeping her tears from falling.

'I don't like feeling like this… Why must it be this way?'

_Yes I know. But I won't leave you… Afterall, we're all we've got._

Then, for the first time since Hotaru heard that annoying voice, it seemed to grow a little less annoying… She hung on to it and tried to will the pain away. If things continue on as they are, than she might have more and more conversations with this voice.

_Please, smile at us too Natsume…_

**End of Chapter

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**Author's note: **Time check- 2:56 am… I did say once that I work better during the unholy hours of day.

So? How was it? I hope you kept an open mind to try and give them (and me) a chance. I heart reviews…And please forgive me for a very, very late update. I'll try to do my best to update soon.


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